


The True Face of a Monster

by TorScrawls



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, and foul language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-09-30 01:44:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17214674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TorScrawls/pseuds/TorScrawls
Summary: Working their way through the countryside in search of Dracula's castle, the trio stumbles upon a village plagued by monsters. They decide to help (in exchange for payment, of course) but maybe the grotesque spawn of hell aren't the only monsters lurking in the mist?





	1. Chapter 1

Alucard shook his head as he looked down at Trevor. "So quick to violence," he said with equal measures of distaste and disinterest in his voice.

"We live in a violent world," Trevor responded with exaggerated sadness in his voice as he continued to punch the face of the man lying on the ground beneath him.

Sypha sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Maybe it would be less violent if you stopped that?"

"Just doing what I can," Trevor said with a shrug and Sypha let go off his arm. He dusted his hands off and got to his feet, ignoring the groaning man lying on the floor beneath him.

"You mean the only thing you can," Alucard cut in with a sneer on his face.

Trevor crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not seeing any one of you contributing to the great cause of stopping the world's destruction in another way, now we at least know which direction we should go in."

Sypha leaned forward and raised an eyebrow as she nodded towards the man still lying on the floor, "So you didn't just look for a reason to take his money?"

"Hey!" Trevor raised his hands in the air, "We're gonna help them with their monster-problem, right? We should at least get paid some."

"I guess…"Sypha trailed off as she rocked back on her feet again, looking up at the tavern's ceiling. "But you shouldn't make enemies of every village and town we pass by."

"What can I say? We need to make it to Dracula's castle someday. And that day is preferably before I die of old age."

"So impatient," Alucard said with a sigh and a shake of his head. "I once had a dog that barked less than you do."

"Nobody asked about your childhood pets," Trevor growled.

"The maybe you should stop acting like them," Alucard replied with a hint of a smirk on his face.

Trevor took a step so that he was right in front of Alucard, finger pointed hard in the other's chest. "You damn monster! You have no right—"

Sypha came up beside them and gave them both a hard shove towards the tavern's door. "Let's go then! No sense in wasting any more daylight!" She sent a look over her shoulder at the few glaring locals who were still present in the tavern and the way their fists had tightened around the handle of the heavy kegs in their hands. "And best not try our luck too much."

"Whatever," Trevor grumbled under his breath as he walked after her. He turned around to address the whole room, "Well come back later and collect the whole fee!"

As they walked through the tavern Trevor's eyes landed on the bottles of liquor behind the bar; the way they shone in the light as they reflected his and Sypha's reflections. Alucard's was absent, which was a fact he still wasn't used to and he had to turn to make sure that he was actually following them with his quiet steps.

Trevor turned back around; hiding the small smile that crept over his face as he took in Alucard's grumpy expression. His smile froze as he locked eyes with a woman standing in front of them. Her eyes travelled from their small group, to the bottles behind the bar, and back; her mouth slowly dropping open as her eyes widened. She had noticed.

Within seconds the tavern was filled with whispers and the angry glares had turned into fearful ones. Trevor had to remind himself to relax his shoulders and appear as calm and non-threatening as possible as the whispers started up around them. The three of them had a lot of experience what fear could make people do.

They hurried their steps and exited the tavern, almost running out into the empty street and the sunlight. Nobody seemed to follow them so after a few seconds of debating they decided to follow the lead the man had given Trevor; they had nothing more substantial to go on right now.

* * *

 

The mist lay heavy over the land, obscuring everything that was further away than 100 meters. It had thickened over the course of the afternoon as the sun retreated behind heavy clouds and now the air was heavy with moisture. The visibility would only get worse as night fell.

"This is bullshit!" Trevor exclaimed, shattering the silence that had hung over the small group as he almost tripped over a stone on the road.

"What now?" Sypha groaned as she turned on her heel to look back at Trevor where he walked a couple of meters behind her. "You want some attention? You look as shitty as you usually do, congrats!"

"Haha. Very funny," Trevor said with sarcasm dripping from his every word. "We should stop for tonight and find shelter. Soon we won't be able to see worth shit."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Sypha said with a smile as she raised one hand in front of her and before Trevor had time to blink there was a flame dancing in her palm, bathing their surroundings in a yellow light.

Trevor  _didn't_  feel impressed by the casual display of strength and skill, and he  _certainly_ didn't feel affection for her happy and proud expression. "It's a nice light-show, but the mist will still make it impossible to see."

Sypha opened her mouth, but Alucard beat her to it as he spoke up from the front of the group, "The light will help for a while, but you're right. We should stop soon."

Trevor stared at him, mouth slightly agape as he stopped dead in his tracks. "You… agree?"

"Yes. We should stop soon. Keep your eyes peeled for a suitable resting spot."

Sypha looked between them, a slight crease between her eyebrows. "Did I miss something here? Why aren't you two fighting?"

Trevor shrugged as he started walking again. "I have no fucking idea. Maybe he finally learned some manners."

"Careful, Belmont," Alucard said with a grin that showed off his sharp teeth.

"Was that a threat?"

"Are you so easily threatened?"

Sypha sighed. "Well, I guess I asked for it," she muttered as she kicked at a small rock on the road.

They continued walking as night fell around them, keeping an eye out for a suitable place to set up camp for the night. It was starting to get chilly outside and Trevor had to consciously ignore his rumbling stomach at the thought of a fire and a hot meal. During their walk he had kept his eyes and ears peeled for any potential dinner moving through the forest, but everything around them was quiet and still.

After another half-hour of walking and with increasingly poor visibility, they finally stumbled upon a large outcropping with one side forming an almost vertical wall. It was a perfect cover from the wind and any eventual prying eyes.

Alucard frowned at the rock with a tilted head. "Isn't it too close to the road? It isn't very well hidden."

"Who's gonna find us here?" Trevor asked with a teasing smile. "Are you scared of some stumbling villager tripping over you as you sleep?"

Sypha squatted down and started moving branches and leaves, clearing out a circle on the ground the perfect size for a fire. "It's too late to be picky."

"I guess this will suffice," Alucard said with a stiff voice as he turned his head to the side, away from Trevor, pretending the other hadn't spoken. Trevor laughed and didn't miss the way one side of Alucard's mouth turned up into a small smile of his own.

Alucard sat down beside Sypha to help her with the fire, and the light from Sypha's small fire reflected off his golden eyes. Trevor looked from him to Sypha as she busied herself with the fire-pit and felt himself smile.

Trevor froze. "I'm gonna go piss," he mumbled out and turned around, angry and confused at the warm feeling suddenly bubbling up inside him.

"Don't get lost," Alucard called after him with that smug tone he used to rile Trevor up.

He couldn't help it, he bit. "I'm not a fucking child."

"Could have fooled me," he heard Sypha mutter under her breath. Trevor decided not to answer as he stomped away from their camp, feeling grateful for the mist that swallowed him up after a few meters. He needed to be alone for a second.

He wasn't used to travelling with others, the  _same_ others for so long. He was used to people giving up on him as they got to know him or when they had gotten what they wanted from him, but these two just wouldn't budge. It had started to grate on his usual firm beliefs that he should keep everyone at least an arm's length away.

Trevor sighed as he relieved himself, staring out into the quiet forest. Maybe he could bring back some firewood from that tree over there; it looked old and dry—

Quiet. It was very quiet. Not a sound pierced the darkness and Trevor immediately straightened up as he squinted to try and make sense of the swirling mist surrounding him.

He quickly walked back to the campsite, seeing that Alucard and Sypha had arranged a stone circle where they had started stacking wood for a fire.

Trevor didn't care that he interrupted their quiet conversation as he sent a look over his shoulder before approaching them and speaking up, "We should go."

Sypha looked up at him with a frown. "What?"

Alucard let out an audible sigh and got to his feet to look at him with crossed arms. "We just stopped. Did you shit your pants or something? Why the sudden hurry?"

Trevor sent another look over his shoulder, still nothing. "It's quiet."

Alucard's slight frown turned into a mocking half smile. "So you won't be able to shit in peace?"

"Can you stop it with the shitting!?" Trevor growled and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, unease making him jumpy.

Alucard raised an eyebrow at the same time that Sypha raised her hands in a calming gesture. "Okay. Calm down. What's going on Trevor?"

"It's too quiet. No birds, no animals, no nothing. Something isn't right."

His words managed to wipe the smile from Alucard's face as both he and Sypha paused to listen.

"He's… right," Alucard said, sounding pained at the admission.

"I agree," Sypha said in her usual down-to-business tone. "This isn't right."

"Glad we agree," Trevor said as he dropped his hand from his sword. "Now can we get a move on?"

"Where should we go?" Alucard asked.

Sypha rapped her fingers on her arm as she pursed her lips in thought. "I don't think whatever's out there will get deterred by another couple hundred meters, and like you said before; the mist is heavy enough that it will be hard to travel long before the sun rises."

"You think we should stay?" Trevor asked in an incredulous tone of voice.

"I think there's nowhere better we can get to right now. It's safer if we bunker up here and make sure to face whatever it is head-on instead of getting it in our backs as we run."

"I agree with Sypha. Here we have fire and one side closed off," Alucard said with a gesture towards the big stone. "It's the best chance we get if we do get attacked. Which we still might not, mind you."

Trevor looked between his companions. It was sound reasoning, he had to admit, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He could make out the mist swirling in his periphery, taunting him.

"Fine!" He exclaimed as he sat down heavily next to the fire. "Whatever."

They settled close to the fire and kept their backs to the stone, each facing outward and keeping watch. They didn't bother pretending to relax as they kept their hands close to their weapons or flexing with nerves.

The minutes slowly ticked by.

"So… Glad we got the jump on this monster of yours," Alucard drawled. The sound of his voice was almost deafening after the earlier quiet.

Trevor was too tired and high-strung to respond with anything but anger. "Shut the hell up."

Sypha yawned where she sat. "Maybe we should take turns and sleep."

"Sounds like the best plan yet," Alucard replied with a smile, still glaring at Trevor with narrowed eyes.

"Well, great!" Trevor ground out in a bad imitation of a happy voice. "Then you won't have anything against taking the first watch I suppose?"

"Certainly not," Alucard said as he patted Trevor on the leg. "And I'll make sure to wake you up if your little monster comes to visit."

"Fucker," Trevor growled under his breath as he slapped Alucard's hand off him. Sypha gave an unenthusiastic whoop of joy and promptly tilted back to sprawl out on the ground, curling up in her coat. Trevor would be willing to bet that she was asleep before her head touched the ground.

He was jealous since he himself was angry enough that he doubted he was going to get any sleep, not to mention the fact that he still wasn't convinced that they were alone out here. And who would feel safe sleeping when the only guard was a dhampir? He would never trust that idiotic—

* * *

 

A sudden sound woke Trevor up with a jolt. Something was… growling close by. He immediately grabbed his sword and jumped to his feet, crouched and ready to defend himself and the others. His eyes scanned their small camp and took in Sypha's still sleeping form beside him and Alucard— Alucard standing by the fire and looking out into the misty darkness that surrounded them.

"What's going on?" Trevor asked in a voice that was still heavy from sleep, even though all traces of it had left his mind the second he woke up.

The growling noise came again and he realized that it was coming from the man in front of him.

"Hey! Alucard?!"

Alucard snapped his head around and held up a hand in a shushing motion, "Shhhh! I… heard something."

"Heard?" Trevor hissed under his breath as he instinctively crouched down slightly, slowly approaching where Alucard was standing, muttered under his breath, "I swear to god, if this is some kind of trick…"

Trevor cast a look around; squinting into the mist surrounding them, but wasn't able to make anything out. He took a deep breath and blew it out through his nose. No smell out of the ordinary. Trevor still felt uneasy at the eerie quiet surrounding them, but there was nothing new he could pick up on that explained Alucard's sudden change in behavior.

Alucard suddenly turned his head to the right, glaring into the mist. That was when Trevor saw it; a small flickering of something light in the ever-changing mist. There and gone again in an instance. He quickly glanced over at Alucard and they shared a look before both nodded.

Trevor nudged Sypha with his foot, waking her up with a muttered groan. She rose to a sitting position slowly, rubbing at her face. "What?"

"Something's wrong," Trevor whispered as he kept his eyes peeled at the spot where the light had disappeared.

"Again? We've already been through this," Sypha said around a yawn, but she didn't hesitate before getting up and looking around, eyes alert and cautious.

All three of them stood still and silent for several long minutes, staring out into the white swirls surrounding them. Trevor was starting to doubt he had seen anything at all.

He had just decided to speak up and voice his doubts when he saw Alucard tense up beside him, head snapping to the right and focusing on something in the trees surrounding them.

And suddenly the complete silence was broken.

Something rumbled and muttered around them. The sound came in waves; rolling in closer and closer, but not getting any more distinct for it. The sound seemed to swirl around them, morphing alongside the mist and making it impossible to tell where it was coming from.

"Whatever it is, there's a lot of them," Alucard said quietly before tilting his head as if to listen. He spun on the spot and looked up at the stone at their backs with a deep frown. "And some of them have found their way up there."

Trevor took a firmer hold of his sword and looked over at his two companions. "…Is it time to run now?"

They looked back at him with grim determination as they answered in unison, "Yes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> I love the series and had to write something for it! Even so, I feel like I have a hard time pinning the characters down, but I'm doing my best :) I hope someone out there enjoys!
> 
> Happy new year all! Let's hope for a good 2019.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They come face to face with the monster hiding in the mist. Why can nothing be as simple as you first believe it to be?

They took off in the opposite direction from where they had seen the flickering light, hoping that they wouldn't run straight into whatever it was that moved in the mist.

The forest floor blurred beneath them as they ran and they had to swerve sharply to avoid running into trees that seemingly appeared out of nowhere in front of them.

Every time Trevor looked over his shoulder only to find nothing he tensed up more. The sound still seemed to come from all sides in waves— surrounding them as they ran. The rhythmic pounding of their feet on the ground continued on in a steady beat and nothing seemed to change. Until it did.

The river came suddenly and without warning, appearing out of the mist fast enough that Trevor had already taken two steps into it when he noticed.

The shock of it made him stop, but the sounds around them continued, so Trevor unfastened his weapons from his belt, hoisted them up over his head and took a third step into the river.

"Come on!" Trevor called over his shoulder at Sypha and Alucard who were standing on the bank, having managed to stop before setting foot in the river. "Let's go! We might manage to shake it in the water."

Trevor did his best to ignore the cold water as it seeped into his boots and through his pants, focusing on keeping his footing on the slippery stones and on the fact that the sound that followed them was getting louder by the second.

Sypha hoisted up here robes best she could over the knee-high water and followed behind.

"I can't—" Trevor heard Alucard say from behind him and he spun around in place, almost slipping and falling because of the sudden movement.

"Now is not the time to be prissy about a little water!"

"Belmont, you're surprisingly stupid sometimes," Alucard snapped from his position by the edge of the river. "I. Can't."

Sypha did her best to wrangle her robes into a bundle in her arms as she looked back at Alucard with an exasperated expression. "I thought you weren't a vampire? You still can't cross moving water?"

"I have some trouble with it, yes."

Trevor's arms were starting to ache where he held his weapons above his head. He was not in the mood for this. "Right. That means you can't. That would have been good to know before we got stuck at the edge of a river, chased by a monster, you know."

"It's getting closer!" Sypha called from where she stood in the middle of the river with her robes in her arms.

"You go. I will be fine," Alucard said as he cast a look over his shoulder and drew his sword.

"Alone?!" Trevor asked incredulously. The anger was suddenly joined by worry, and Trevor wasn't a fan of the feeling.

"I will be fine," Alucard repeated through clenched teeth as he turned his back on them, facing whatever it was that chased them.

"We won't leave you," Sypha said with conviction, hoisting her wet, heavy, ropes up as she sloshed back to the shore.

Trevor heaved a deep sigh and tried to pretend that leaving Alucard was a possible choice, before carefully making his way back to the riverbank.

"So, how are we doing this?"

"Do we even know what it is?" Sypha asked as she shook her robes, expelling as much water from them as possible.

Alucard stepped away from her to keep it from landing on him. "No we don't, and can you please stop drying yourself like a dog?"

Sypha gestured to Alucard's dry pants with an audible scoff. "You have no right to complain right now."

Alucard stiffly turned back around to face the trees once again, "It's almost here."

They could hear the crunching of leave and branches as it approached and Trevor drew his sword as he turned back towards the approaching sound. "Well, whatever it is, it's almost here. You take the right and I take the left?"

"Deal."

"Sypha?"

"I take the middle. We're about to have some roast for dinner."

"Disgusting, but go for it!" Trevor said as he took off running.

They split up just in time to stop short as whatever had been following them emerged from the trees. It wasn't some big, hulking beast with fire in its eyes like they had all imagined, but a hunkering group of humans. Trevor recognized a couple of the people from the tavern they had left earlier that day, only they had exchanged their mugs for pitchforks, stones, and torches.

Trevor's hand slackened its grip on his sword. "What the fuck?!"

One of the villagers raised their hand and leveled it at them, yelling, "There they are! Monsters!"

Sypha took a step forward and splayed her arms wide. "We're not monsters. We hunt them!"

The villagers didn't seem to hear her as they continued, voices growing in volume and vehemence.

"He's the one who beat down Henry!" A woman's voice rose above the others as she pointed a finger at Trevor.

A young man stepped forward and leveled a finger that was just as accusing at Alucard, "And he's the one without a reflection!"

"She's the witch!" A third villager yelled, not wasting any time before throwing a stone towards Sypha. She stepped to the side and let her hands fall back to her sides, lips pressed thin. Trevor knew she didn't want to fight these people, these humans. But taking quick stock of the assorted gathering of weapons, tools, and burning anger the mob pointed in their direction, a fight seemed inevitable.

Trevor tightened his grip on his sword, but before he could raise it back up, Alucard stepped forward, sending him a quick look that made Trevor pause.

Alucard addressed the villagers in a calm voice that somehow managed to rise above their muttering and screaming. "We do not want to fight you."

A woman in the mob sneered. "This isn't a fight. This is an execution. We are done with monsters bossing us around and killing us for sports. We are fighting back."

"You are fighting the wrong people," Alucard said in a voice that held his usual tone of calm and assuredness. "We're no monsters."

"And we're supposed to believe that?! We've seen the truth!" An angry voiced yelled out, a rising chorus of agreements egging it on. "You're all devils masquerading as humans!"

Sypha seemed to decide that Alucard's attempts at diffusing the situation weren't working, so she took a step forward and stood beside him, addressing the villagers, "Turn back and leave us alone. We promise not to bother you again."

A couple of seconds of silence, then a stone sipped past Alucard's face; close enough to rustle his hair. The action broke the tense stalemate and the shouting started up again, louder and angrier than before.

"Your promises mean nothing!"

"We're done hiding! Now we fight back!"

Another stone hit Trevor on the shoulder and he decided that enough was enough. He stepped up to stand beside Alucard and Sypha, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "Well, this is going great, guys, but I think the negotiations are over."

"We shouldn't hurt them," Alucard said stiffly, his earlier calm nowhere to be found. "We're better than that." The look in his eyes spoke volumes about how important this was to him and Trevor cursed his choice to travel with people that actually had a coincidence. It made things that much more complicated— never mind harder to keep his own conscience quiet.

"Then what do you propose we do?" Trevor snapped in an irritated voice as he let go of both of their shoulders to dodge a particularly large stone aimed at his head.

Sypha looked from the villagers to the both of them and shrugged, "We run."

Trevor wasn't used to turning tail and running when he knew he could win, but both Sypha and Alucard were right; why spill unnecessary blood when there was so precious little human blood left? He supposed he had gotten soft.

They ran, following the winding river downstream.

Alucard took the front and within seconds Trevor couldn't make out his back through the trees and the mist. Sypha ran in front of him; cloak billowing out in the wind.

He could hear the villagers clamoring behind them as they followed; torches sending light and shadow dancing wildly over the forest floor. Stones sipped past their bodies as they ran, a few catching on their backs; not hard enough to really hurt, but a good warning of what was to come should they stop and face their attackers. It took all of the self-restraint Trevor could muster not to turn around and teach the villagers a lesson.

All of a sudden there was a back in front of him and Trevor had to careen sharply to the side not to run Sypha over.

"What?!" He barked in annoyance. "Why have we sto—"

Trevor cut himself off as his eyes landed on Alucard standing a couple of meters in front of them, right at the junction where the river split in two; surrounding them on both sides.

"Seriously? God damn it," Trevor said with a groan as he ran a hand down his face. He sent a quick look up and down the river, confirming that it went on for as long as he could see. The river was fast-moving and pretty wide; easily stretching out 50 meters in front of them.

"I can create a bridge," Sypha said decisively, not wasting any time before extending her hands in front of her; an expression of concentration scrunching up her face. "Just give me a moment."

"Then do it!" Trevor said immediately, looking back over his shoulder and seeing the flickering lights of the villagers fast approaching through the mist. He wasn't afraid for the sake of himself, Sypha, or Alucard— he was afraid for the villagers and what would happen to them if they managed to catch up with the three of them.

Sypha muttered under her breath and for a few breathless moments nothing happened. Trevor was just about to speak up when a solid sheet of ice shot out from the ground in front of her feet and stretched over the water. She let out a breath and lowered her hands to her sides again, looking back at Trevor and Alucard with a triumphant grin on her face. "Okay, let's go!"

They took off again, Sypha going first, Trevor following and Alucard bringing up the rear. The latter seemed to hesitate slightly before getting on the bridge, but following quickly. Just as they left the bank the villagers streamed out from between the trees.

"Witchcraft!"

"Look at this evil magic!"

Trevor grunted as a rather heavy stone hit him on the shoulder and made him loose his footing on the ice for a brief second, but he was steadied by a hand from behind grabbing his arm. He sent a quick look over his shoulder at Alucard and nodded his thanks before they both continued on. Only a dozen meters left.

Trevor heard the tell-tale whizz of an object flying through the air and ducked his head down just in time for a sizeable rock to sail past his head. That would not have been as easy to shake off. His triumph was short-lived as the stone found another mark other than the back of his head; Sypha's ankle— sending her falling to the ground and hitting the side of the bridge with a startled shout. Trevor and Alucard both dove for her, but none of them more than brushed her arm before she slid over the edge of the icy bridge and into the river below.

Trevor would be the first to admit that he wasn't an expert in magic— had no real idea of how any of it worked— but he figured it had something to do with concentration. As soon as Sypha hit the water the whole structure started to crumble. Fast.

He could hear the cheers from the villagers on the edge of the river and he turned just in time to catch a glimpse of fear in Alucard's eyes. Well, that was a first.

Before Trevor had the time to take a full breath, they plummeted into the ice-cold water below.

As they hit the surface it felt like a physical blow, the water knocking the air out of his lungs as it smacked into his side. Trevor broke the surface of the river gasping; surprised to find the water shallow enough to stand up. He looked around and locked eyes with Sypha who was already making her way over to the bank on the other side, away from the still gloating villagers.

Trevor started making his way towards her while rocks hit the surface around him; splashing his face with water.

"Hey!" Trevor growled at the villagers, "Can you stop that!"

It wasn't until that moment when he turned around to shout at them that he noticed that Alucard wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Trevor whipped back around, sure that he would see the bastard standing on the river bank— perfectly dry and unscathed like always. There was no one there.

He quickly scanned the other side of the river, but it was solely occupied by a murderous mob, a mob of whom the most brave participants had started to slowly make its way into the river.

"Where the fuck did he—"

Trevor stopped as something caught his eye in the water a couple of meters downstream, floating just beneath the surface. Something with blond hair and black cloth. Something that wasn't moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This fic has been bouncing around in my head for a while, so I just had to get it out. It's not beta-read, but I hope someone out there enjoys it :)


	3. Chapter 3

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Trevor cursed under his breath as he fought his way through the water as fast as he could while hastily tying his weapons to his belt again— water be damned, he needed his hands free.

As he reached Alucard, Trevor immediately grabbed him beneath his arms and tried to find stable enough footing to hoist the other up. He almost dropped him back down into the water when Alucard's head broke the surface of the water and, without seeming to draw breath, he screamed.

Trevor had never heard Alucard truly scream— the sound of it seemed to cut through his ears and echo in his skull, dredging up worry in its wake. He never wanted to hear it again. Trevor adjusted his grip and pulled— he  _had to get him out_.

Trevor started dragging them through the water, desperately holding onto a trashing Alucard as water sprayed around them.

A loose stone beneath his feet suddenly slid sideways and Trevor cursed as he lost his precarious footing— the struggling weight in his arms doing nothing to help him keep his balance as he tilted sideways. Before he had time to get his feet back under him, they had both gone back into the water.

Trevor refused to lose his grip on Alucard as he scrambled with his feet beneath the surface, stones sliding and moving beneath them. Suddenly the slippery stones beneath his feet solidified and Trevor pushed off; taking in a greedy breath of air as they broke the surface of the river once more. He looked up at the bank of the river and caught Sypha with her hands raised, staring intently at them.

"Thanks!" Trevor called out as best he could while struggling to catch his breath. His arms ached from holding onto Alucard, but the other had started to still— trashing turning into twitching. That's when he realized that Alucard wasn't screaming.

The silence seemed even more deafening.

He stumbled forward, dragging Alucard behind him. Sypha was by their side in an instance, taking a hold of Alucard's right arm and helping Trevor hoist him the last few meters onto solid ground. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Trevor reassured her as he deposited Alucard on the ground and sat down heavily beside him, breathing hard. He turned to look down at Alucard beside him and his breath once again got stuck in his throat. "Is he… Is he breathing?"

Sypha immediately leaned close over Alucard where he lay still on the ground. "Damn it! No he isn't!" The panic that flitted across her face was quickly pushed aside and she pressed her mouth into a thin line and hammered her hands down on Alucard's chest before Trevor had the time to scramble over to them.

The reaction was instantaneous— as soon as her fists hit Alucard's chest, he startled coughing up water. Alucard drew in shaky breaths in between coughing; giving them both silent permission to breathe again as well.

Sypha grabbed Alucard's shoulder and started turning him over onto his side and Trevor tried to ignore the way his hands shook as he helped her. He didn't know what would happen if a dhampir didn't breathe for a while, and he had no intention of finding that out tonight.

Alucard heaved a couple of wet coughs on his side before abruptly vomiting; bloody liquid spewing forth and splashing to the ground with a sickening sound.

Sypha leaned back with narrowed eyes. "Oh god."

"Yeah. I did  _not_ need to see that," Trevor said as he wrinkled his nose in disgust, but neither of them willing to leave Alucard alone just yet—worry still too fresh on their minds.

Trevor absentmindedly patted Alucard on the arm as he started coughing again, Sypha petting at his hair and holding it out of his face as best she could.

"What happened to him? You just fell in the water, right?" Sypha asked as Alucard started to calm down, she turned to look at Trevor and pointedly did not acknowledging the villagers that were starting to inch closer to the edge of the water; their anger rising again at seeing them relatively okay on the other side.

"You know that thing he said about having some trouble with moving water? I don't think he was exaggerating," Trevor said as he drew his sword and wiped it on his pant-leg; frowning when it did nothing to dry it off. He changed to trying to flick the water off instead.

"But he's not a—"

"Apparently it's true for dhampirs as well, at least to some extent," Trevor grumbled as he looked down at his still damp sword in annoyance. He sheathed it again.

Alucard allowed himself to lie back down on his back, staring up towards the sky while greedily sucking in breaths. Both Trevor and Sypha ignored the now screaming villagers on the other side of the river in favor of tensely watching Alucard. His face contorted in a small frown as if sensing their eyes upon him and he spoke in a rough voice, "Sorry about that."

Trevor couldn't help the strained laugh that escaped as some of the tension left him. "You have quite the pair of lungs on you."

"Fuck you," Alucard rasped out, turning slowly to his side again and giving a couple of wet coughs.

Trevor met Sypha's gaze over Alucard's head and she smiled at him, he couldn't help but smile back. "He's okay," Trevor breathed out, frowning at the relief he heard in his own voice. He leaned back on his hands and cleared his throat in an effort to cover it up. "Or I mean, he's Alucard, but you know…" He turned his attention back to the still coughing Alucard. "And you're welcome, by the way."

Alucard's opened his mouth to retort, but closed it again as a stone hit the ground a mere centimeter from where he was lying— reminding them of the presence of the angry mob.

Too bad for the villagers that they couldn't very well run away any more with Alucard in the shape he was in. They would have to fight, and it would most likely be over very quickly.

Trevor heaved a sigh and patted Alucard's arm before standing up. He looked down and saw Sypha frowning towards the other side of the river; towards where the villagers were standing; some of them almost halfway across the river by now as they made their slow and careful way through the cold water.

"What? We will go easy on them," Trevor said in an effort to reassure her. "I'm sure if we just turn around and fight back they will run off—"

"Something's coming," Sypha cut him off in a somber voice as she got to her feet. Even the villagers had fallen strangely quiet— as if they could sense that something was approaching.

"What now," Trevor said with a groan as his eyes scanned the opposite side of the river. Of course she was right, now that he stopped he could feel it to. The same tingling sensation of being watched that he had gotten earlier that night, before the villagers had come for them, only now it was much stronger.

There was no warning. They came quietly and fast through the trees; gaping maws and slashing claws making quick work of the first couple of villagers. They didn't even have time to scream.

Within seconds the other side of the river was a theming hellscape of severed limbs and flowing blood; accompanied by the rising howls of the beasts as the smell of blood egged them on. They were many and they were fast; four legged shapes tearing through the men and women as if they were nothing.

The river soon ran thick with blood and Trevor silently thanked his unlucky star that they had gotten out of the water before it had turned into an impromptu re-dyeing experience.

Trevor watched as one of the monsters suddenly turned and sniffed the air, swiveling its head until it looked right at them where they were standing on the other side of the river. It seemed to gaze straight into Trevor's eyes for several long seconds. Then it howled.

"Well, I guess we found the monsters the villagers had trouble with. Just what we need," Trevor said as he drew his sword. He glanced down at Alucard's sitting form. "You up for a fight?"

"Lovely," Alucard muttered as he gave a last cough and slowly got to his feet, before adding in a louder voice, "I will manage."

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Alucard said before hesitating. "Just… just hungry."

"Well, let's get this over with quickly then."

The wind changed direction and Trevor almost gagged at the strong stench of blood and guts that wafted from the other side of the river. The screams were dying down together with the last couple of villagers and more and more of the monsters were seemingly focused on the three of them; panting, howling and pacing the other side of the water. From the corner of his eye Trevor saw Alucard wrinkle his nose, as if he smelled something bad, before shaking his head forcefully.

He wanted to tell the other to sit this one out and to leave it to them, but he knew that Alucard wouldn't listen. "Don't get in my way," was all Trevor said and Alucard smiled as if he knew what he really meant.

"Let's do this," Sypha said as she rolled the sleeves of her robes up past her elbows, face set in a determined scowl.

The monsters didn't hesitate before flinging themselves into the river.

They trampled each other, falling over and into the stream but not hesitating. Soon their sheer mass managed to get some of them over the river, trampling over a mass of their own kin as they went.

Trevor had the time to send Alucard a last not-worried-look, and nodded at Sypha who had raised her hands again in a fighting stance, before the monsters were upon them. They snarled and howled as they dribbled blood and unidentified pieces of guts everywhere as they lounged at them in droves.

Trevor raised his whip and charged; taking out two with his first swing and stabbing a third with his sword. As the battle raged on Trevor quickly fell into instincts— stab, swing, and duck. Repeat.

Trevor spun around and caught one of them in the head, effectively smashing it into a nearby tree. He could see Sypha sending out a wave of ice that encapsulated several of the remaining beasts and immobilized them long enough for Alucard to shatter them into a million pieces. Alucard was moving slower than usual, even as he managed to hold his own. Just as Trevor was about to turn back around, he caught sight of Alucard stumbling slightly— the sight of it unnerving him more than he would like to admit. Alucard didn't stumble.

Trevor tightened his grip on his sword and took a small step in their direction before stopping short; his vision suddenly occupied by glowing eyes and gnashing teeth.

The second he had spent looking over at the others meant that one of the beasts had managed to get close and he threw himself backwards with a swipe of his sword. It wasn't fast enough, and Trevor winced as he felt claws rip over his thigh.

He snapped his whip— catching the monster in the side and dragging it towards him, effectively ripping the whole side of the monster up.

"An eye for an eye, you bastard!"

The monster slumped to the ground and Trevor was on it in an instant, ignoring his aching leg as he plunged his sword into the monster's head.

A quick glance around confirmed that it had been the last monster and Trevor straightened up. He turned around to make sure his companions were all right when something heavy collided with his back without warning; throwing him off his feet.

"What the hell," Trevor grunted as he twisted in the air, bringing his sword up and jabbing it—

"Alucard?!" He paused with his sword inches from the other's throat as they landed heavily on the ground, Alucard on top of him and pinning him down. He held his sword still against the other's throat; waiting. They had travelled together long enough to deserve some hesitation.

Alucard looked down on him with empty eyes and Trevor gritted his teeth as he tried to buck the other off, to no avail. He was just about to speak up again as Alucard opened his mouth, exposing elongated fangs as he bent down towards—

There was a sudden roaring sound and Trevor flinched as a ball of fire collided with Alucard's side— the heat of it almost burning him. Alucard hissed and jumped back, landing several meters away. Trevor quickly sat up and raised his sword in front of him as he looked around in the direction the fire had come from.

Sypha stood on the other side of the clearing, hands raised and gaze fixed on Alucard's slightly hunched form.

"Thanks," Trevor grunted out as he got to his feet, also keeping his eyes on Alucard.

"No problem," she answered with a voice that was forcibly collected— Trevor could still make out the worry in it. She raised her voice as she called out, "Hey! Alucard?!"

Alucard didn't answer, but he folded in on himself even more; hands rising to clutch at his arms in what looked like a painfully hard grip. His head was tilted downward; hair cascading over his face and hiding his expression from view. Even from this distance, Trevor could see him shaking.

Trevor took a small step in his direction and Alucard finally looked up; eyes finding him through a curtain of long hair, making Trevor freeze on the spot.

The eyes that locked with his were no longer golden and shining, they were red. Irises shining with a fire of their own.

"You asshat! What do you think you're doing?" Trevor called to where Alucard was standing, slightly swaying from side to side, several meters away from them. Alucard still didn't answer, but brought a hand up to his face and covered his mouth and nose with it, slowly shaking his head.

"What is going on?" Trevor tried again in a hard voice, hoping that this was all just some misunderstanding that could get cleared up without anyone getting hurt. At least; without anyone getting  _more_ hurt.

The sound of his voice seemed to draw Alucard's attention again and Trevor watched warily as Alucard crouched down with his eyes fixed on Trevor's form.

Alucard flexed his hands; long nails looking unnaturally sharp as they glinted in the light of the dying torches the villagers had brought, now lying abandoned on the ground.

Trevor swallowed thickly, took a deep breath, and raised his sword.

Sypha looked from Alucard to Trevor and she made no attempt to hide the fear in her eyes as she spoke, "Wait! What are you doing?!"

"Defending myself."

Sypha scoffed and lowered her hands as she took a step in Alucard's direction. Trevor reached out to grab her arm, holding her back.

"Don't go any closer. He's a monster, Sypha." The empty eyes staring at them from beneath golden hair seemed to confirm his words.

"He's Alucard. You know this."

"Not right now, he's not," Trevor said in a tight voice; sorrow still managing to seep through.

"We can solve this some other w—"

She was cut off as Alucard lounged, none of his usual grace as he grabbed for Trevor's shoulder with claw-like hands and a gaping mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this far! 
> 
> I know it's a bit rough around the edges but my motto for this year is "persistence over perfection", which means that I will try and write and get better, without getting too caught up in details. I will still try my best though :)


	4. Chapter 4

Trevor stepped to the side and brought his sword down on Alucard's arm, thankful that the other wasn't as fast and graceful as he usually was— giving him a chance to counter. Not that he would ever admit to this out loud. The sword sank into Alucard's shoulder and Trevor winced, but held fast— unlike him, Alucard would heal quickly.

Alucard jerked his shoulder free with a hiss before jumping back, grabbing at the wound with one hand. His red eyes met Trevor's and suddenly Alucard was frowning as he blinked rapidly, the fire in his eyes flickering for a second before they went back to the unfamiliar red.

Trevor hesitated with his bloodied sword held in front of him like a shield, watching Alucard intently. He blinked, and Alucard was moving again; sprinting towards him with a growl. That was as far as Trevor's hesitation went.

He took off to meet Alucard half-way, but before he had taken two steps forward his foot caught on something lying on the ground, making him stumble. Trevor cast a quick look down to see the sprawling corpse of the monster that had slashed him across the thigh earlier. Apparently they hadn't been completely even yet.

Only the fact that he instinctively raised his sword up in front of him as he took a staggering step saved his life as Alucard's hand slammed into it; aimed straight for his face.

This didn't give him enough time to move as his widening eyes caught sight of Alucard's other hand swiping in under his guard; aiming straight for his side.

Trevor had time to regret his earlier hesitation when he had the sword against Alucard's throat, regret that he ever allowed himself to care enough to hesitate in the first place.

Then the hand stopped.

Trevor blinked down at the claws that had frozen a centimeter away from tearing into his skin. They were shaking.

As he looked up into Alucard's face he saw the other frowning hard; staring down at his own hand.

There was a crackling noise and Trevor quickly jumped backwards as a line of ice spread out on the ground; reaching where they stood within seconds. Alucard took a step to follow him, but the ice was faster as it reached him and immediately started spreading up his body— effectively trapping him in place.

Sypha slowly lowered her hands again when she was sure that Alucard was firmly stuck; ice covering him from feet to shoulders, only leaving his head free. "That should keep him still for a while."

"Nice job," Trevor said as he took in Alucard's hands, frozen in an extended position with claws poised to strike. That had been another close call. "Again."

Sypha nodded. "Don't make this a habit." She approached the snarling Alucard, his eyes darting wildly between the two of them. "Alucard? Can you hear me?"

Alucard didn't even acknowledge that she had spoken to him, continuing to snarl at them with wild eyes— jerking his head from side to side in a futile effort to get free. There was no trace of recognition in his red eyes.

Sypha tilted her head and took in the growling daphnir in front of them. "What happened to him? He seemed fine just minutes ago."

"No idea…" Trevor trailed off before he suddenly remembered something. "Wait. Didn't he say he was hungry?"

"You think…?" She looked around them, taking in the blood and guts from both monsters and villagers. The smell hung heavy in the air. "He's never acted like this before!"

"Well, I don't know! Maybe he just got bored of playing along with us!"

Sypha didn't award his comment with an answer, instead looking intently at Alucard where he jerked his head from side to side as he struggled to get free— nose flaring. "I don't think he's thinking clearly."

Alucard snapped his teeth at them and growled in a decidedly animalistic way. Trevor raised one of his eyebrows. "You don't say."

"So let's help him think," Sypha said in a decisive voice as she rolled her shoulders.

"And how do you propose we do that?"

She was silent for a couple of seconds before her face lit up. "I have an idea."

Sypha aimed her hands at the ground and Trevor decidedly did  _not_ let out a yelp as he jumped back when pillars of flame shot from her palms.

"Are you trying to kill us?! What are you doing?"

"Saving us.  _All_ of us."

"By burning down the forest?"

"By blocking out the smell of blood," Sypha said with pursed lips as she directed the flames to the side; towards the water and trying to avoid any of the bodies littering the ground— monstrous or human.

The smoke quickly rose from the charred grass and twigs, stinging Trevor's eyes and making him rethink his earlier critique. "Ah, yeah," Trevor paused to cough as he took a step back from the spreading fire. "That might work."

Within seconds the whole scene was swathed in thick smoke, only leaving a small space of breathable air where they stood— Trevor didn't doubt that this was Sypha's doing as well.

A sudden crack could be heard through the smoke and Sypha and Trevor looked at each other with matching frowns. What could have—

Trevor froze as a warm gust of wind from the fire swept over them. "The ice."

His words where followed by a noise of something shattering, not able to completely cover up the growl that accompanied it.

Sypha gave a strained laugh, "Whoops."

Trevor raised his sword back up, peering intently into the smoke surrounding them. "Well, we gave him a smokescreen. That's great."

Trevor could make out a shape moving in the smoke, stumbling slowly toward them and he crouched slightly in anticipation of another fight; wincing as the wound on his thigh stung.

Sypha suddenly patted his shoulder repeatedly in excitement, pointing at Alucard. "Look! It's working!" And Trevor couldn't argue with her as the shape got closer— revealing Alucard's face as it alternated between empty hunger and hesitation. Alucard was blinking hard; movements jerky as if he was fighting with himself over whether to launch himself after them or stay back.

Trevor felt Sypha's hand slip from his shoulder and he turned to see her raising them in front of her with a smile; starting to put out the fire surrounding them. She noticed his questioning look and smiled at him, "I think that means the smoke is thick enough."

Alucard took another stumbling step in their direction and Trevor tensed as he the other looked up at him with red eyes. Then Alucard blinked, and suddenly the monster in front of them transformed into Alucard as they knew him with an upright posture and golden eyes— even if the eerie emptiness in them had been replaced by pain and confusion. Alucard stopped his slow walk towards them as he lifted a hand to cover his nose and mouth, taking in the scene surrounding them with a grimace.

"You back with us?" Trevor asked with a voice that conveyed more worry than he cared for.

Alucard kept the hand covering his mouth and nose as he looked at the pair of them in silence for a few seconds, before answering in a strained and slightly muffled voice, "I think so. I— I am not really sure what happened?"

The sound of his voice made something in Trevor's stomach unclench and

Out of the corner of his eye, Trevor could see Sypha's shoulders sag in relief.

Alucard watched them with worried eyes and Trevor pushed aside the need to make sure he was alright, instead giving into years of training; evaluating the current level of threat. "What the fuck was that?"

"I don't know." The admission came out honest and raw, almost catching in his throat and Trevor felt himself deflate at the sound of it. Alucard cleared his throat and continued, "I don't think I—" Alucard seemed to lose his thread of thought, shaking his head slightly before continuing, "Something— There's this—" Alucard stumbled through the sentence and Trevor was alarmed to see his eyes glazing over at the end.

Trevor saw Sypha move her arms in his periphery and a second later a sudden gust of wind carried smoke right into their faces, making Trevor cough and Alucard straighten up again.

Alucard shook his head once, twice, and then seemed to re-focus his gaze on Trevor— but he didn't seem to be looking at his face, instead focused on his feet. Or his—

"Trevor!" Sypha called out. "Your leg!"

"My leg…?" Trevor trailed off as he looked down, trusting Sypha to have his back as he took his eyes of Alucard's swaying form. His eyes widened as they landed on the blood seeping down his leg. Maybe the wound had been more severe than he had initially thought. "Oh."

Sypha took a couple of quick steps towards him and Trevor held up a hand to stop her. "I'm fine, really. It looks worse than it is" He hesitated slightly before continuing, "Besides, I don't think I'm worst off right now." Trevor nodded in Alucard's direction.

"That might be true," Sypha muttered under her breath loud enough for him to hear. Alucard shifted on his feet and Trevor tensed at the movement, but the other had simply raised a hand to poke at his own shoulder, looking down at the already healing wound with some confusion. Sypha breathed out a noisy sigh before addressing Alucard, "Right, let's get to the bottom of this. When was the last time you ate?"

Alucard kept his head pointedly turned away from the two of them as he gave his head a small shake; it looked like half an answer, and half an attempt to clear it. "I don't know."

"Well, that's just great," Trevor said with a sigh, deeming it safe enough to sit down on the ground and look over his wound, rummaging through his wet pockets for some fabric. It would have to do for now.

As Trevor started winding the strip of cloth around his leg, Sypha squatted down beside him and helped him hold it in place, looking up at Alucard. "Will this happen again?"

Trevor kept his eyes on Alucard and caught the way he tensed at the question. "No, it will not." He hesitated a second before adding, "…Or I don't think so."

Trevor heaved a deep sigh, muttering under his breath, "Once again,  _very_ reassuring!"

"Well, can you please try and warn us if there's a next time?" Sypha asked while keeping her eyes on Trevor's haphazard job of winding the fabric around his leg.

"I promise to try, but I felt completely normal before I— Well…"

Trevor threw his hands in the air in indignation, letting go of the fabric he used to dress his wound. "So it's perfectly normal for you to suddenly attack people without warning? You've never mentioned that before!"

"I didn't say that—"

"No, that's right, you didn't say a lot, you just growled," Trevor huffed out, tiredness and declining adrenaline making him unable to keep the irritation from his voice.

Sypha grabbed his makeshift bandage and tied it off a bit harder than was strictly necessary, earning herself a startled yelp from Trevor. "You sound like a baby."

Trevor swatted her hands away from his leg before crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, I think I have the right to! He nearly killed me!"

"But he didn't!" Sypha said with a tone that signaled that the discussion was over.

"I do apologize for that," Alucard said from behind the hand still covering his mouth and nose with real sincerity that only served to make Trevor angrier; id the other had snapped back then maybe he would be able to forgive him, but he didn't know how to handle the situation when he got an apology. So he didn't.

"An apology! Sypha, you heard him right?! The bastard  _does_ know how to apologize after all!" Trevor exclaimed in exaggerated wonder.

"Not the time, Trevor," Sypha said with a sigh before she leaned in closer, taking a long sniff of air through her nose.

"Are you seriously smelling my leg?" Trevor asked with raised eyebrows, momentarily blindsided by her actions.

Sypha ignored him and got to her feet, dusting off her hands on her knees as she turned to Alucard. "Okay. I think it's safe now? I don't really know how good your sense of smell is, but at least I can't smell the blood anymore."

Alucard slowly lowered his hand and took a couple of careful breaths. "Yes, I think it is okay."

"Maybe keep your distance until you're sure," Trevor grumbled as he forced himself into a standing position, lightly stomping his leg on the ground before putting his whole weight on it. The pain was manageable.

"I'll protect you if something happens," Sypha said as she patted Trevor on the head.

Trevor shook her off with a muttered curse, annoyed that she didn't seem to take this seriously enough. "So," Trevor said in a no-nonsense tone of voice, taking a step towards Alucard. "What happened?"

"I don't really know," Alucard said and Trevor didn't even try to contain his groan, but before he could say something else, Alucard continued, "Something like this has never happened to me before, I— I almost lost myself."

Trevor could see the haunted edge to the other's gaze and felt his anger suddenly drain away. He became acutely aware of his own hand on the hilt of his sword, and of Alucard's wary eyes on said hand. Even so; Alucard made no move to defend himself. Trevor heaved a deep sigh as let his hands fall to hang at his sides. "Well, no real harm done, I guess... You okay after that disastrous swimming experience?"

"If I'm okay…?" Alucard trailed off, seemingly caught off guard. "I will be fine, I think. I have to thank you for getting me out. Moving water isn't really my forte."

Trevor thought back to Alucard screaming and trashing in the water, but before he could comment, Sypha beat him too it with a muttered, "We guessed as much."

"So what can we do to help? Should we keep our distance?" Trevor asked, even as he had no intention of letting Alucard approach either him or Sypha until they knew it was completely safe. He was surprised to realize that only part of the reason was because he saw Alucard as a threat— otherwise he simply didn't want to create another situation where he would have to hurt him.

"I think that would probably be for the best, yes." Alucard said, wrinkling his nose in distaste as he looked around the clearing and all the dead monsters littering the ground. "Maybe we could move somewhere less… macabre."

"Sure," Trevor agreed, realizing that the smoke was starting to disperse around them. They should move away from the blood and gore while Alucard was still himself, they could figure out the rest later.

They walked some ways away from the river, Sypha and Trevor leading the way and Alucard following behind, keeping his distance. The longer they walked, the more relaxed Alucard seemed— his jerky and stiff movements melting away into his usual confident stride.

They stopped in a clearing a couple of hundred meters away and Trevor took a deep breath of the fresh air, suddenly realizing just how oppressive the smell of blood, guts and smoke had really been.

Alucard broke the silence first, and Trevor was surprised to see that the expression on his face was almost guilty, something he couldn't remember seeing before. "I have no excuse for what I did, and I don't have a good explanation for it either. Something like that has never happened to me before."

"Do you know what triggered it?" Sypha asked as she sat down on the ground with crossed legs. Alucard followed suit with an almost grateful expression, still mindful to keep his distance. Trevor sat down beside Sypha, not bothering to hide the fact that he kept his hand on the handle of his whip. Sypha stretched her arms over her head and Trevor couldn't help but envy her relaxed attitude. He supposed that's how it was when you were able to make fire and ice appear at will.

"My best guess is the combination of being exposed to the running water, suddenly expelling all of my… nutrients, and then the smell of human blood so close by, was too much to handle." He hesitated before continuing. "In the middle of the fight, I guess I just reacted to instincts."

Trevor felt his earlier anger flaring up again. "Well then, all is fine! It was just instincts!"

Sypha scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please, as if you've never done something you later regretted in the middle of a fight." The teasing tone in her voice was exaggerated enough to make Trevor hesitate. Maybe she was right, maybe they all needed a break in the tension.

Trevor made the conscious decision to relax again as he clasped a hand over his heart with wide eyes. "I would never!"

Alucard coughed, cleared his throat, and his grateful smile morphed into a smirk as he asked, "Like the time you picked a fight with a wrestler while drunk and already injured?"

"I would have been able to take him!" Trevor said in his best imitation of an indignant tone of voice.

Sypha laughed and the sound did more to clear the air than the absence of smoke had managed to. She gave him a light shove on the shoulder. "Or that time you threw a chair into the middle of a hearth? Resulting in embers exploding all over the room and setting fire to your coat?"

"Wasn't this conversation about Alucard and how he fucked up?!"

"It can be both," Sypha said with a shrug and a smile.

Alucard smiled as well before coughing again, this time louder and more insistent.

"You okay over there?" Trevor asked, a smirk spreading over his face, "Catching a cold? Did you get too  _dhamp_  by the water?"

"Is this was passes for humor among the Belmonts?" Alucard asked in a dry tone before giving in to another small cough and waving a hand in a dismissive gesture. "I'm fine. Really. Just a bit of a shock to the system."

Trevor thought back to the screaming and thrashing in the river. "If you wanna call it that."

Alucard raised one eyebrow and opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a cough, followed by another, and another. Before either Trevor or Sypha could react Alucard stumbled to his feet, managing to take a single step towards the edge of the clearing before doubling over; wheezing in breaths that he immediately coughed out.

"Damn it! Alucard!?" Sypha exclaimed as she and Trevor sprang to their feet. They reached Alucard's hunched form in seconds, Sypha's hands hovering inches from Alucard's trembling form, but before either of them could touch him, Alucard held up a hand in a stopping motion.

Both Trevor and Sypha froze in horror as Alucard retched; what looked like a rivulet of blood poured from his lips and hit the ground with a sickening splash. Trevor and Sypha took an instinctive step back to avoid getting it on their boots and legs.

"This again?! What the fuck is happening?" Trevor asked in an almost angry voice, not liking not knowing what was happening. Not liking watching his friend suffer and not knowing how to make it stop.

Alucard didn't answer. He continued to stay hunched over, retching and spitting on the ground, but no more torrents of blood sprung forth. Trevor decided to take that as a good sign.

Sypha spoke in a remarkably calm voice as she once again slowly approached Alucard. "What's wrong?"

Alucard simply shook his head, but his screwed up eyes and pinched face had relaxed a bit, if only minutely.

After another tense minute of labored breathing Alucard took a shaky step back and unceremoniously sat down on the ground. At least he was breathing again. Trevor let out a long breath as some of the tension left him. "Just a bit of a shock to the system was it?"

Alucard managed a small smile before letting out another small cough. His voice was raspy as he spoke, "Shut up."

"That was a bit… worrying," Sypha said with a strained smile on her face that failed to mask the worry in her eyes. She sat down on the ground close to Alucard, still mindful of the distance he had established between them earlier.

"I think I am fine now," Alucard said in a raspy voice in-between deep breaths of air.

"Third time's the charm," Trevor muttered under his breath as he sat down on Alucard's other side. "What was that? Should we be worried?"

Alucard hesitated before admitting, "I appear to have swallowed more water than I initially thought."

"I'm impressed you still had something to puke up," Sypha noted as she leaned back on her hands. Alucard gave a distracted nod as he licked his lips clean of blood; a faraway look in his eyes until his stomach growled loudly, seeming to startle him back into the present.

Trevor sent him a weary look. "You sure you're fine now?"

"Yes," Alucard said decisively. Trevor shot him another look and he hesitated. "But maybe I should try and eat something."

"You'll be fine by yourself?" Sypha asked in a doubtful voice as she looked Alucard over.

"Yes. I won't go far."

Sypha nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. We'll be here."

Alucard gave a small nod and got to his feet somewhat stiffly.

"We won't wait up for you!" Trevor called after Alucard as he started making his way towards the edge of the clearing, even though he knew it was a lie; neither of them would be able to relax until Alucard was back.

"I'm not asking you to," Alucard answered with his back to them, but even from this distance Trevor could hear the smile in his voice.

Trevor would never admit to feeling a slight pang of worry as he watched him disappear into the woods.

"Sooo… Should we set up camp here? Or are you gonna stare into the trees until the sun starts to rise?" Sypha's teasing voice broke the silence and Trevor started as he realized that he had been staring into the woods where Alucard had disappeared for quite some time.

"Yes, this should be as fine a place as any," Trevor grunted as he stalked off to look for suitable branches for a fire, refusing to acknowledge the shame he felt rising up inside him at getting caught caring. They still had a couple of hours of darkness left and they should make the most of it if they wanted to keep their energy up. They would probably need it in the coming days if the horde of monsters they had just fought were any indication.

"We won't have to worry about any more of those… packs showing up tonight?"

Trevor shrugged before bending down to pick up a branch from the ground. "Who knows. Probably not though. Monsters who hunt in pack like they did tend to band together over large distances, or fight each other for hunting grounds. We have probably killed all the monsters in a fairly large radius," Trevor gave a mirthless laugh before continuing, "I guess the village should be safe. For now."

"What's left of it at least."

"Yeah…"

* * *

 

They had gotten a fire started when Alucard made his sudden and quiet reappearance at the edge of the clearing. Looking as impeccable as ever; no sign of a hunt or blood on him as he stood there with his eyes on the ground, for once seemingly unsure of what to do.

It took Trevor and Sypha some time to notice him standing there, even with them keeping watch, Alucard always moved silently and had a slightly unsettling talent for melting into the dark shadows of the night. Maybe it came with the family blood.

Did you manage to find anything?" Sypha asked with a hesitant smile and Trevor could see some of the tension leave Alucard's shoulders as soon as she addressed him. He started walking towards the fire, towards them.

"Yeah, a bird that wasn't fast enough. And I figured you might want something to eat as well." Alucard raised his right hand and brought a dangling bird into the light of the fire.

Trevor could see Sypha's face light up at the sight of the food, and he wouldn't be surprised if his own faced matched hers. He was starving.

"Let's eat! Sypha, you're good at preparing birds," Trevor turned his best innocent gaze toward her.

She responded with her own pleading gaze, "But you're  _so good_ at glazing them, Trevor!  _You_  do it!"

Trevor made a theatrical wince as he grabbed at his leg, "Ow, ow, ow, my leg really hurts!"

Their argument got cut off by a firm but quiet voice, "You guys sleep. I can take care of the cooking." Alucard frowned, looking almost hesitant as he continued, "If you feel like you can, that is."

Trevor didn't know the answer to that; would he be able to relax around Alucard right now? Trust him?

Sypha looked between Alucard and Trevor and then back. She sighed. "We would love to, but  _you_  should be the one sleeping. Considering all that just happened and the fact that you actually  _do_ look dead for once."

"That's—"

"Don't argue. Sit down. Trevor, you can prepare the bird, right?"

Trevor opened his mouth to protest, but another look at Alucard made him notice the slightly slouched stance, the tired eyes, and the stiff shoulders. The other looked as stoic as ever at first glance, but there were cracks showing. This worried Trevor more than he cared to admit.

"Yeah, sure. Give it here."

Alucard stared at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly open, before it formed a small smile. "That's awfully kind of you. I'm surprised."

"Gee, thanks," Trevor said as he extended a hand and motioned for Alucard to hand him the bird. Which he did after only a slight hesitation.

Alucard sat down next to the fire with an audible sigh and Trevor got to work. Before long they were all pleasantly warm and full, and there were still a few hours until dawn. Alucard had given in almost as soon as Trevor and Sypha had started eating, lying down on the ground and promptly falling asleep.

Trevor poked idly at the fire in front of them as Sypha huddled deeper into her robes, letting out an obnoxiously loud yawn. He snorted and decided to humor her. "You can go to sleep."

She didn't even try to hide the victorious smile that spread over her face at his words, even as she asked, "What about you, then?"

Trevor gave her a half-smile and kept his eyes on the fire. "I doubt I would be able to sleep right now anyway."

Sypha shrugged. "Well, if you insist."

She lay down on the ground next to Alucard, close enough to feel the company, but not close enough to touch. Trevor smiled as he saw Alucard turn slightly towards her in his sleep.

Trevor put some more wood on the fire and leaned back; looking at his two companions and feeling… warm in a way that had nothing to do with the fire in front of him. It had been a long time since he had felt a part of something, a part of a group. And it had been even longer since the prospect of being a part of something bigger than himself wasn't accompanied by a feeling of dread. At least not exclusively.

It took him a while to realize that what he was feeling as he looked at his two sleeping companions was safe, the feeling foreign enough to startle a laugh out of him.

He guessed that answered his earlier question of whether he would ever be able to trust Alucard again after this or not. They all had their own monsters to deal with, but that didn't mean that they would have to do it alone.

* * *

 

The sun rose faster than Trevor would have liked and with it his two companions woke up; blinking and stretching in the relative warmth of their little camp. They packed their things in relative silence and Trevor put out the fire; watching the smoke curl into the sky.

"Sooo… which way to old Dracula's place?" Trevor asked as he got to his feet and stretched, testing his leg and feeling relieved when it didn't protest his weight too much. After what happened the day before he was eager to get out of the eerily quiet forest and for them to be on their way. He started walking in the direction of the rising sun, seeking out the warmth on his skin.

"I think we should continue west, remember that old man two villages back who were talking about having seen hordes of monsters in the mountains?" Sypha replied as she matched her pace to Trevor's.

"That could be worth looking into," Alucard said as came up from behind them, walking on his other side.

Through the trunks they could see glimpses of the sun; stray beams of light finding them as they walked.

Sypha shielded her eyes from a beam of sunlight and smiled— an expression that seemed to mimic the rays of light dancing through the trees; all happiness and warmth as she looked from Alucard to Trevor. "Just another night, huh?"

"Just another night," Trevor agreed, not quite able to contain the small smile that teased up the corners of his lips.

Maybe they would manage to pull this off after all. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this story! It was a lot of fun to write :) 
> 
> I re-wrote the last chapter several times but I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but if I didn't stop now I know I would have simply thrown it out and not finished it. Even so, I hope it makes someone out there happy!
> 
> I hope you're having a beautiful winter :)


End file.
